Refrigerator tray



R. E. KAUFMANN REFRIGERATOR TRAY Filed Oct. s 19:56

INVENTOR EIau/mam z W NEYS -ATTO Patented Mar. '22, 1938 FFlCE 14Claims.

the ice cube tray and to the grid which 'sub-.

divides the tray into a plurality of small compartments. Attempts havebeen made in the past to provide grids which are readily releasable fromthe ice cube tray and are in turn readily releasable from the individualsmall blocks or cubes of ice. Trays and grids are constructed of bothmetallic and of non-metallic materials, some ofthe grids being flexiblein order that they can be bent or twisted to separate the ice cubes fromthe elements of the grid. 1

The metallic grids are of a complicated nature requiring such operationsas bending and spot welding to produce a unit which is suflicientlyflexible for the desired purpose.

The non-metallic, for example rubber, grids and trays areinherentlyflexible and no particularly complicated or expensive operations arerequired for their production other than molding and vulcanizing. Suchnon-metallic constructions suffer the disadvantage however of beingrelativelynon-heat conductive, thereby greatly increasing the length oftime required for freezing the cubes.

The present inventionhas as an object the provision of a highly flexibleice cube tray grid which is readily removable from a tray.

A further object of the invention is to produce an ice cube tray inwhich the longitudinal partitionis flexible, resilient and can betwisted, bent and even longitudinally extended to release the cubes orblocks from the grid.

A still further. object of the invention is to produce suchalongitudinal partition inexpensively with a. minimum of manufacturingtreatments and with a minimum of. structural elements.

In achieving the. objects of the invention I have discovered that acorrugated resilient partition member is capable of fulfilling all therequirementsof the objects hereinbefore set forth.

More specifically my grid may consist of a longitudinal partition of alength substantially that of the internal dimensions of the ice cubetray. This longitudinal partitionis provided with'cor: rugations of anydesired shape extending transversely thereof. Suitable -means areprovided along the length of the longitudinal partition for receivingtransverse grid members. The transverse partitions are preferably flatsheets or metal of suitable proportions to extend transversely in theice cube tray and being in number suflicient to divide the traylongitudinally on opposite sides of the center partition member into aplurality of small freezing compartments.

The corrugations in the longitudinal partition may be of various sizes,but preferably they should be relatively small so that the ice blocks donot have a peculiar or undesirable shape. The corrugations may also varyin size in the same partition. The corrugations in the centralpartitionpermit the grid to be bent arcuately longitudinally, twisted axially andalso stretched axially. The outermost portion of the corrugatedpartition will be extended and flattened proportionately when the gridis bent thereby tending to force or eject the cubes from the grid. Inaddition, the extension of the center partition will tend to break thetransverse partitions away ,from the sides of the ice blocks because ofrela-- tive movement between the blocks and the partitions. The grid mayalso be twisted thereby aiding in breaking the transverse partitionsloose from the ice blocks.

The gridmay also be provided with suitable means for removing both thegrid and the ice blocks from the tray and for twisting and bending thegrid after removal from the tray. e

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of. a grid embodying my invention in aconventional ice cube tray.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a grid embodying my invention partly brokenawayv and partly in section to show details of the constructionthereof.

Figure 3 is a side view ofthe grid, partly in section, and with one oithe manipulating handles swung downwardly into ice-block-ejectingposition.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail of the transverse andlongitudinal grids taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5' is 'a plan view, partly broken away, of a modified form ofgrid with a plurality of the transverse partitions mounted thereon, and,

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of a, modified form of grid.

An ice cube tray 2 of conventional form is shown in Figure 1 which inthe known manner is insertable in a refrigerating space of an automaticrefrigerator for freezing blocks of ice therein. Supported loosely inthe tray 2 is a grid member consisting of a plurality of transversepartitions 4 dividing the tray 2 into a plurality of longitudinallyspaced compartments. The transverse partitions 4 are mounted in anysuitable manner on a longitudinal partition 6, preferably by means of aslot 8 straddling said partition 6 which is also provided with slots Iextending approximately half way therethrough.

. The partition 6, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, may

-break the cubes loose ably have flat crests l6 as shown tray,

ing and extension of the consist of alongitudinally extending member,

preferably of highly conductivemetal, which is in itself resilient andis rendered even more resilient and extensible by a plurality oftransversely extending corrugations l2. As best seen in Figures 2 and 4,the slots ID in the longitudinal partition are locatedat thecorresponding crests l4 of spaced apart corrugations. tions in which theslots ID are located preferin Figure 4. The flat crests l6 engage theportions of trans-{ verse partitions 4 adjacent slots 6 and preventoscillation ,of the transverse partitions [relative to the longitudinalpartition 8. As best shown in Figures 1 and 3, the ends of thelongitudinal partition 8 are provided with axially extending projectionsi8 extending beyond the corrugated portion of the partition and havingupwardly extending lugs 20 received between bifurcated legs 22 ofejecting handles 24 so that the handles may be swung around to lie ontop of the grid or alternately swung over to engage the ends of the icecube tray 2 to act as levers to eject the grid from the tray. Thehandles 24 are provided with slots 26 which receive the extensionssition shown at the left hand end of Figure 3 to flex, twist and/or bendthe ice cube tray.

In use when blocks of ice have been frozen between the partitions 4 and8 of the grid, the handles 24 may be swung outwardly, and downwardly toengage the ends of the trays 2 to break the grid and the ice cubes loosefrom the and to lift the grid from the tray. The handles 24 may then beswung into position to receive extensions l8 of the grid in slots 26 ofhandles 24, as shown in Figure 3 and forced toward each other andtwisted relatively to expand the outer portion of the tray lengthwise,and force them laterally 4 due to the flattencorrugations.

The corrugations in the longitudinal partitions may be varied inamplitude from one end to the other, or from the center of the partitionoutwardly from each end. \When cubes are removed from end compartmentsof the grid, only, the empty portion of the grid is far more flexiblethan the portion of the grid yet containing ice cubes. Therefore, thoseportionsfrom which the cubes have been removed will flex greatly withoutproducing a corresponding flexing and/or extension of the longitudinalgrid in the portion where the ice cubes remain.. In order to overcomeunequal flexing and, conversely, to equalize the flexing of the icecube'tray under these circumstances, the corrugations 28 may be made ofless amplitude than the corrugations 30; and the corrugations '30 ofless amplitude than the corrugations 32, between the transversepartitions 34 and 36, 36 and 38, and 38 and 40, respectively. Thuscorrugations 28 are less extensible and the longitudinal partition 42 isless flexible between partitions 34 and 36, than the cormgated portionof grid 42 and will tend to equalize the flection of the partition 42.

A modified type of corrugationin the longitudinal partition 8 is shownin Figure 6. The

out between the partitions The corruga- I8 in the poslotted corrugations44 and 46, which receive the transversepartitions 4 are opposite crestsof the corrugations, rather than corresponding crests as shown in Figure2.

While the corrugations disclosed in the forms of the device abovedescribed are shown as generally V-shaped in cross section, it will beunderstood that they may be in the form of a sine curve or a similarsinuous curve. They may be of a generally straight sided U formationhaving a flat base or they may have inclined straight sides with roundedcrests without deviating from my invention.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that my invention, embodying ahighly flexible extensible center partition of generally corrugatedform, is susceptible of many variations which will readily occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, the typical embodiment of theinvention as disclosed should be considered as illustrative of thisinvention and not as limiting the scope of the appended claims. I

I claim:

1. In a removable grid for ice cube trays, the combination of alongitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitionssupported by saidlongitudinal partition, said longitudinal partitionbeing corrugated 'to render it 'fiexibleand extensible.

2. In a removable grid for ice cube trays, the combination of alongitudinal partition and a. plurality of partitions extendingtransversely of and supported by said longitudinal partition, saidlongitudinal partition comprising a resilient strip of material providedwith corrugations to render it flexible and extensible.

3. In a removable grid for ice cube trays, the

combination of a resilient strip of metal forming ing transversely ofsaid strip.

4. In a removable grid for ice cube trays having a plurality oftransverse partitions dividing the tray into a plurality ofcompartments; the combination with the transverse partitions of atransversely corrugated longitudinal partition of resilient materialwhereby ice cubes may be re moved from between the partitions bybending, twisting and longitudinally stretching the longitudinalpartition.

5. The combination set forth in the preceding claim in which thecorrugations differ in size.

6. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which the corrugationsdecrease in size from one end of the partition to the other.

7. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which the corrugationsdecrease in size from the center of the partition 'to the ends of thepartition.

8. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which a lever is pivotallyconnected to one end of the longitudinal partition for lifting the gridfrom the tray.

. 9. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which the corrugations areV-shaped in crosssection. I

10. In a removable grid for ice cube trays having at least onetransverse partition dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments;the combination with the transverse partition of a longitudinalpartition, a slot in said longitudinal partition for receiving thetransverse partition, said longitudinal partition being resilient andamaoa'z corrugated throughout substantially its length said slot beinglocated at the crest of a corrugation.

11. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the corrugations aresubstantially V- shaped in cross-section.

12. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the corrugations aresubstantially V- 'shaped in cross-section, that corrugation containingthe slot having a flattened portion in alignment with said slot.

13. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the corrugations inone portion of said partition diifer in size from the corrugations inanother portion of said partition.

to the longitudinal partition to provide a handle for bending andtwisting said grid.

RICHARD E. KAUFMANN.

